Dinner at Kit Kat’s Barbeque in Pawcatuck, CT.

My wife and I had dinner a few nights ago at Kit Kat’s Barbeque in Pawcatuck, CT. The restaurant occupies a storefront in “downtown” Pawcatuck; the smoker resides in the restaurant’s back yard. The interior – while small – is really quite pleasant.

The restaurant is run by a husband and wife team - Tracy and Hilbert Gibbs. Both native New Englanders, Hilbert is a retired Marine and gained his skills in Florida, where he eventually owned a small chain of barbeque joints. Gibbs and his family moved back to New England to be closer to family. The Gibbs are gracious hosts. Hilbert is a real raconteur and certainly enjoys speaking with his patrons. Kit Kat is their daughter’s nickname.

Sides include homemade baked beans, vinegar-based cole slaw, potato salad, collards, corn bread and corn on the cob. Most of the sides were Hilbert’s grandmother’s recipes. The sides were all very good.

Four sauces are available tableside: sweet & sour, honey mustard, and sweet and tangy. An additional sauce was kept behind the counter and available on request – fiery - hot, but still tasty. They offer several different platters and bulk packages to bring home.

My wife had the chicken platter; ; I had the beef brisket with onions and banana peppers. Between the two of us, we sampled all the sides, except the corn on the cob, and all the sauces, we were both very satisfied.

We brought a dozen smoked chicken wings with sweet and tangy sauce home for our son, who agreed with our assessment.